Thesis

This is a brief development of the Thesis which underlies THEOparadox . . .

The Bible is entirely true, accurate, and authoritative. The Bible is clear in its essential teachings, but does not comprehensively explain everything it describes, and remains silent on many issues which are of deep interest and curiosity to the human mind.

Some of the clear teachings of the Bible lead to logical paradoxes. These paradoxes exist only in the mind of man, due to his finite knowledge, limited understanding and lack of divine logic - and their perplexing nature is magnified by our fallen, sinful condition.

Logical paradoxes are in the Bible by divine design. They are left unresolved in order to humble human pride and call us to trust God's wisdom, adore His incomprehensible greatness, and submit to His revealed will.

The failure to accept and properly interpret Biblical paradox has resulted in numerous theological errors and heresies* throughout Church History. An over-emphasis on paradox, to the exclusion of a rational Biblical epistemology, has led to other errors**. Historic, Orthodox, Moderate*** Calvinism strikes the balance and provides the most accurate handling of Biblical and theological mysteries, enigmas, tensions, paradoxes, and antinomies.

Where possible, paradoxes should be resolved Biblically and logically, to the fullest extent possible. Theoretical philosophy and creative thinking provide possible explanations for some Biblical paradoxes. However, if there is no explicit Biblical warrant for a particular explanation, it has to be considered less authoritative than Scripture itself. The Bible alone is the Word of God, and we are advised not to go beyond what is written. Speculation and hypothetical reasoning can be helpful, so long as they are kept in careful subjection to the authority of Scripture. The primary focus of a Christian thinker should be affirming what is clear and revealed, rather than developing theories to explain what can only be mysterious.

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*Some of the heresies would include Pelagianism, Open Theism, Unitarianism, Universalism, Modalism, Nestorianism, Docetism, Arianism, and Socinianism. Sometimes the rejection of paradox in particular areas leads to less abominable errors, such as Arminianism and Hyper-Calvinism, as well as a host of confused approaches to sanctification.

**Neo-Orthodoxy and Postmodernism both lead to irrational affirmations of paradox which are not rooted in a rationally valid Biblical epistemology.

***By "moderate" Calvinism I signify that strain of essentially Reformed theology which recognizes the Biblical accuracy of Calvinistic soteriology, but aggressively strives to elevate the Bible above the Reformed system of doctrine and refuses to press the logical implications of divine sovereignty so as to diminish, deny or mitigate what is revealed in the Scriptures concerning human responsibility. Moderate Calvinism unequivocally embraces, at a minimum, the doctrines of Pervasive Depravity/Total Inability, Unconditional Election, Effectual Call/Irresistible Grace, and Preservation/Perseverance of the Saints. Concerning Limited Atonement, the "moderate" view is represented by some lower Calvinists who emphasize the universal aspect of the Atonement (for example, Richard Baxter and Randy Alcorn); some higher Calvinists who emphasize the limited aspect of the Atonement with the inclusion of certain universal benefits in Christ's atoning work, such as the purchase of common grace (for example, John Piper and R.C. Sproul); and some, like me, who emphasize both the universal sufficiency of the atonement and its particularistic efficiency with redemptive results limited to the elect (I believe this was the view of Calvin, who would never have called himself a 4- or 5-point Calvinist, and it is also represented in substance by R.L. Dabney and William G.T. Shedd). In my view, there is more of a limit on our ability to understand the atonement than there is in its inherent sufficiency, extent or intent.

About the THEOparadox Team

Derek Ashton,Founder:I know enough about myself to be completely amazed that God loves me. His grace toward me has been abundant and overwhelming. I thank Him that I've been married to my beautiful bride since 1996. I have the privilege of raising two wonderful children who are gifts from God. (Read my testimony here).

Emeritus Team Members:Tony Hayling:Learn more about Tony at his site, Agonizomai.

THEOparadox MISSION Statement:

~To honor God by upholding the authority, inerrancy and sufficiency of His Word, the Bible.~To help students of the Word to interpret Biblical paradoxes in a way that faithfully reflects God's heart.~To ignite a devotional flame that will help believers to warm up their theology and burn up their pride.~To encourage Christian faith by resolving or explaining apparent contradictions in the Scriptures.~To explore the nature and extent of paradoxes in historically orthodox, Reformed, Biblical theology.

~To provide Biblical resources for those who desire to know God and His Word better.

~To glorify the Lord Jesus Christ, the Friend of sinners and the Savior of the lost.

Feature Series

Theology Meets Geometry

Rules

Feel free to respond to anything written in the posts, or to the comments left by others.

Please be charitable. If you disagree, do so with grace. Keep your words positive, focused, and on-topic. We don't expect everyone to agree, but we do expect everyone to treat everyone else with respect and grace, speaking the truth in love.

Thanks!Mgmt.

Followers

"Heresy is born whenever the Church fails to pray a tension."

"Hyper-Calvinism and Arminianism both result from the same problem: A tension-deficient disorder."

"Human beings are incredibly good over-compensators."

What is a PARADOX?

A tenet or proposition contrary to received opinion, or seemingly absurd, yet true in fact.

Noah Webster, American Dictionary of the English Language, 1828 Edition

"... it is synonymous with apparent contradiction. A 'paradox' thus amounts to a set of claims which taken in conjunction appear to be logically inconsistent. Note that according to this definition, paradoxicality does not entail logical inconsistency per se, but merely the appearance of logical inconsistency."

James Anderson, Paradox in Christian Theology

Wise Words ...

"The juxtaposition of words and ideas that don't usually go together make the real point stand out for us more clearly. And some truths in the Christian life are best expressed as oxymorons - paradoxical language."

~Phil Johnson

Wise Words . . .

"By advocating paradox I don't want to give the impression that I'm giving a carte blanche to not think philosophically, to not think deeply, about these doctrines. Quite the opposite. . . . My position is that with each of these doctrines we reflect on them as hard as we can, we penetrate them as best we can based on the Scriptural data that we do have, but we also recognize that there are going to be limits, and that those limits are actually a positive thing and not a reflection of some inherent problem in the doctrines or in the process of theological reflection. . . . I think we can make progress, we can make

considerable progress, in understanding these doctrines and resolving some of the . . . initial difficulties that we have with them, but at the same time recognizing that we're always only going to get so far and when we bump up against the limits of our capacity to formulate them in certain ways or to resolve certain difficulties in them, we

shouldn't be too concerned about that. We certainly shouldn't say, 'Okay, we need to admit that Christians are ultimately irrationalists.' No. We don't need to say that at all. . . . It's a Biblically constrained rationality. It's a middle way between rationalism, of which I think [Gordon H.] Clark was a representative, and irrationalism, of which, to take an example I think the Neo-Orthodox - Karl Barth - would be an example, where you're saying that there are actual contradictions in there. So I think it's navigating a Biblical middle way between these two extremes: having too high a view of the human intellect, and perhaps too low a view of the intellect, of our ability to know the things

of God."

~Dr. James Anderson

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The Gospel

God lovingly sacrificed His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, for a depraved and law-breaking humanity's only way to be saved from His just wrath, and through His death and resurrection graciously sanctified and secured forever all those who believe on Him - for their ultimate good and His eternal glory.

The following quotation was found in a recent post on a popular Arminian blog . It is by James Arminius, the founder of Arminianism, and pur...

Theological Paradoxes

Below I have listed some of the classic theological paradoxes (and a few interesting ironies, too) . . .

~The Trinity- God is One being revealed in three distinct persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit)~God is transcendent(separate from His creation) yet immanent(in His creation)~Omnipresence- God is always present everywhere, yet He sometimes speaks of Himself as "present" in a special way~The Incarnation- God became a man~The Virgin Birth - A Jewish virgin gave birth to the Son of God~The Two Natures of Christ - Jesus is fully (100%) God and fully (100%) man

~The Atonement is sufficient to save every person, but efficient only for those who believe~God is completely sovereign (in control of everything, everywhere, all the time) yet He is not the author of sin and he uses human choice to accomplish His purposes~Inspiration of Scripture - The Bible was written by sinful human beings yet it is the inerrant and flawless Word of God~Divine Revelation - Sinful man cannot comprehend God, yet God reveals Himself to sinful man~Sanctification- Christians are sinners by nature, but saints by grace~Suffering- God brings His joy and comfort into our lives through our experiences of pain, disappointment and suffering

There are many others. Paradox is everywhere when we attempt to understand God's ways in a genuinely Biblical way.

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The Apostles' Creed

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord

Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,Born of the virgin Mary,Suffered under Pontius Pilate,Was Crucified, dead and buried

He descended into Hades;The third day He rose again from the dead;He ascended into heaven,and sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty

From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit,The holy catholic (i.e., universal) Church,The communion of saints;the forgiveness of sins;the resurrection of the body;and the life everlasting. Amen